India will play for pride and aim to retain their No.1 status, while teams such as China, Korea, Japan, Bangladesh and Oman will battle it out to earn a berth for World Cup 2018 in Bhubaneswar, India. After a 6-week national camp under the guidance of Hockey India’s High-Performance Director David John and newly-appointed Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne, the 18-member squad is well-prepared to vie for top honours.
??#India: Captain Manpreet Singh, eyeing a perfect start. #AsiaCup2017 pic.twitter.com/6GSDE5VEsS
— DragFlickWorld (@dragflickworld) October 10, 2017
Ahead of team’s departure, 25-year-old Manpreet said, “We are aware that we go into this tournament as the highest ranked team and we aim to keep up the No.1 status. However, every team will come with the intention to win the title so we can’t take any team lightly thinking they are ranked lower than us.”
As we r gearing up for the 10th #AsiaCup2017 to repeat history, do keep ur hurrahs flowing by tuning to Star Sports from tomorrow onwards✌? pic.twitter.com/ccnm0YMaj3
— Manpreet Singh (@manpreetpawar07) October 10, 2017
“We have trained well in the lead up to the tournament. Our new Chief Coach Sjoerd is happy with our structure and style of play, so he has not tried to change too many aspects. We believe while we play teams like Japan, Bangladesh or even Pakistan, we just need to stick to our basics and play simple hockey.”
India Squad
Goalkeepers: Akash Chikte, Suraj Karkera
Defenders: Dipsan Tirkey, Kothajit Khadangbam, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar
Midfielders: SK Uthappa, Sardar Singh, Manpreet Singh (captain), Chinglensana Kangujam, Sumit
Forwards: S.V. Sunil (vice-captain), Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar, Gurjant Singh, Satbir Singh
When to Watch ?
Oct 11: India vs Japan
Oct 13: India vs Bangladesh
Oct 15: India vs Pakistan
Oct 17: Rest Day
Oct 18: Classification matches
Oct 19: Classification matches
Oct 20: Classification matches
Oct 21: Classification matches
Oct 22: Play off for 3rd-4th position, Finals
Where to Watch ?
India: TV: Star Sports 2/HD; Live streaming: Hotstar
Malaysia: TV: Astro Arena/HD ; Live streaming: Astro Go
Pakistan: TV: PTV; Live streaming: PTV Sports Live
Japan: TV: TV Tokyo
Live Streaming: Hotstar
